Separator for use in the concentration of ores.



No. 825,080. PATENTED JULY 3, 1906. A. SGHWARZ.

SEPARATOR FOR USE IN THE CONCENTRATION OF ORES' APPIQIOATION FILED JULY 12, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES: 4 INVENTOR i u m W ATTURNEY PATENTED JULY 3, 1906.

A. SCHWARZ.

SEPARATOR FOR USE IN THE CONCENTRATION OF ORES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 12 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES. m. 0 M;- W

/% ATTORNEY UNITED sTAT s PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED SOHWARZ, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO SOHVVARZ ORE TREATING COMPANY, OF PHOENIX, ARIZONA TERRITORY, A. CORPO- RATION OF ARIZONA TERRITORY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 3, 1906.

Application filed July 12,1905. Serial No. 269,326.

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALFRED SGHWARZ, a subject of the German Emperor, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Separators for Use in the Concentration of Ores, of which the following is a specification.

In those methods of concentrating ores in which a hydrocarbon is employed as a selective or adhesive agent for the values it is essential to make a complete separation of the adhesive agent with the entrapped values from the tailings.

The present invention is designed for that purpose and will be understood from the following description, the novel features being pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of my improved separator. Fig. 2 is a top View, certain of the parts being removed. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the plane of the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a side view of a portion of the separator, showing the outlet for the tailings. Fig. 5 shows a section, and Fig. 6 a face view, of a detail construction.

Similar reference-numerals indicate similar parts in the several views.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates piers constituting afoundation or support for the separator, which is shown as in the form of a kettle, being secured in place by any suitable means to the foundation. The kettle comprises a cylindrical portion 2, to which is bolted the bottom 2. An outer casing 3 surrounds and is secured to the wall 2 to constitute a steam-jacket, steam being admitted thereto by suitable pipes. to the top of the inner side of the wall 2 is a flaring rim 4. The rim 4 is recessed, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to adapt the kettle to its setting on the piers 1, the portions 4 of said rim bearing against the side of the piers. Secured to the wall 2 and opening into the lower part of the kettle is a joint 5, containing a ball-float of usual construction. A valve is connected to said float outside of the joint 5 to regulate and control the level of the water.

A vertical shaft 6 is su ported in bearings in a frame 7, the latter iieing bolted to the top of the piers 1. The shaft 6 is rotated by Bolted any suitable means, as by wormearing 8, driven by a shaft 10. The pul ey 11 is mounted on said shaft, through which power is transmitted from any suitable source. The lower end of shaft 6 has secured to it a false bottom 12, made of some acid resistant, preferably hard lead. The bottom 12 conforms to the bottom 2 of the kettle and covers the entire surface, as indicated in Fig. 1. When made of hard lead, the bottom 12 may be cast in the kettle, adhesion to the kettle being prevented by well-known means. A boss or hub 12 is formed on the bottom 12, by which it is secured to the shaft 6, or it may be secured in any other suitable manner so as to be rotated with said shaft.

Keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 6 are arms 13, to which are bolted blades or paddles 14 for the purpose of moving the mass along the shelf 15 in the direction of the arrow. As shown, blades 14 extend towithin a short distance of shelf 15. Bolted to the inner Wall of the kettle are hollow shelves 15 and 16, which in practice in the size of kettle shown are about seven or eight inches apart. The shelf 15 extends through an arc of about one hundred and thirty degrees and the shelf 16 through an arc of about one hundred degrees, the ormer overlapping the latter for a short distance, thus leaving the kettle open from top to bottom on one side, as indicated in Fig. 2. The width of said shelves is a little less than the radius of asection of the kettle. A steam-supply pipe 17 provides for the admission of steam into the interior of said shelves. Between the shelves 15 and 16 is a scraper 18, comprisin two arms secured to shaft 6. Resting loose y on the false bot tom 12 is a vertical wall 19, which extends in close proximity to the under side of the shelf 16. This wall is in the form of a spiral, one end 20 of which is bolted to the wall 2, and the other end 19 is bent around the boss 12, so as to have a loose bearing thereon.

At its upper edge the kettle is provided with an opening 21, constituting a dischargeoutlet for the adhesive agent with the entrapped values of the ore. The opening 21 leads into a trough, by which the adhesive agent and the entrapped values are conducted to a centrifugal drum or other apparatus for the recovery of the values. At its lower end the kettle is provided with an outlet 22,

controlled by a gate 23, which latter is operated by a lever 24. The tailings are discharged through this opening 22.

The operation of the apparatus above described is as follows: An intimate mixture of the pulverized ore and adhesive agent is effected in any suitable vessel, from which it is conveyed to the separator here n described. In practice I have used as an adhesive agent a mixture of resin and paraffin, said mixture being liquefied by heat and maintained in a liquid condition while being mixed with the ore. The separating-kettle is filled with water, acidulated, if desired, the bath being ke t heated to any desired temperature up to t e boiling-point by steam-jacket 3. The mixture of ore and adhesive agent when discharged into the separating-kettle falls upon shelf 15, which shelf is maintained in a heated condition not only by the water of the bath, but by steam admitted through the pipe 17. The separation of the adhesive agent with the values begins the instant the mass comes into contact with the water, the adhesive agent with the entrapped values rising to the top and being discharged throu h the outlet 21. Upon the rotation of the s aft 6 in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, the mass above the shelf 15 will be carried to the edge of said shelf, Where it will dro on the lower shelf 16. As shown in Fig. 2, t e scraper 18 is set at right angles to that of the blades 14, so that the mass is permitted to rest for a short time upon the shelf 16 and is then moved by the scraper 18 to the edge of the shelf 16. By

this time the metallic constituents of the ore have been effectually separated from the tailings, so that the mass which is moved from the shelf 16 consists practically of tailings. These fall upon the false bottom 12, which is continuously rotated, and by such movement the mass of tailings is moved in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 3, so as to fill the space between the kettle and the outer wall of the spiral. The mass is gradually moved toward the outlet 22, practically filling the space some distance back of said outlet. The efiect of this crowding of the tailings is to prevent the flow of water through the outlet 22 and to permit only the discharge of the tailings. This results ina saving in the volume of water necessary to effect the separation of the concentrates from the tailings, this being an important factor in districts where there is a scarcity of water.

The operation may be either intermittent or continuous, it being practical by the use of the above apparatus to provide a continuous discharge of the adhesive agent with the entrapped values throu h the outlet 21 and a continuous discharge 0 the tailings through the outlet 22.

Instead of using an adhesive agent which is solid at normal temperatures I may use a normally liquid hydrocarbon, in which case it will not be necessary to steam-jacket the separator or to otherwise heat it.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a separator for use in the concentration of ores the combination of akettle adapted to contain Water, shelves supported within said kettle, scrapers cooperating with said shelves to impart a continuous. movement to the contents of the kettle, an overflow-discharge outlet at the top for the concentrates and adhesive agent, and a discharge-outlet at the bottom of the kettle for the tailings.

2. In a separator for use in the concentration of ores the combination of a kettle adapted to contain water, shelves supported therein, said shelves being of less circumferential extent than the inner circumference of the kettle, scrapers cooperating with said shelves to impart a continuous movement to the contents of the kettle, an overflow-discharge outlet at the top for the concentrates and adhesive agent, and a discharge-outlet at the bottom of the kettle for the tailings.

3. In a separator for use in the concentration of ores the combination of akettle adapted to contain water, hollow shelves secured to the inner wall of said kettle said shelves overlapping and being of less circumferential extent than the inner circumference of the kettle, steam-supply pipes leading to the interior of said shelves, scrapers supported above said shelves, means to rotate said scrapers, an overflow-discharge outlet at the top for the concentrates and adhesive agent, and a discharge-outlet at the bottom of the kettle for the tailings.

4. In a se arator for use in the concentra- 1 tion of ores t e combination of a kettle adapted to contain water, overlapping shelvessecured to the inner wall of said kettle, said shelves being of less circumferential extent than the inner circumference of the kettle, scrapers supported above said shelves and set in planes at right angles to each other, means to rotate said scrapers, an overflow-discharge outlet at the top for the concentrates and adhesive agent, and a discharge-outlet at the bottom of the kettle for the tailings.

5. A separator for use in the concentration of ores comprising a kettle adapted to contain water, a shaft supported so as to rotate therein, a false bottom for the kettle secured to said shaft, a vertical wall resting upon said false bottom and secured at one end to the wall of the kettle, and a discharge-outlet at the bottom of the kettle on one side of said wall toward which the tailings are carried by the rotation of the false bottom;

6. A separator for use in the concentration of ores comprising a kettle adapted to contain water and provided with a discharge-outlet for the tailings, a false bottom for said kettle and means for revolving the same, a vertical wall formed on the curve of a spiral resting on said bottom and secured at one end to the inner wall of the kettle for the pur ose of crowding the tailings toward the sai outlet upon the rotation of said bottom.

7. In an apparatus of the character described the combination of a kettle, shelves secured to the inner wall of said kettle, scrapers cooperating with said shelves to impart a continuous movement to the contents of the kettle, a shaft to which said scrapers are secured, a false bottom also secured to said shaft, and a vertical wall resting upon said bottom and secured at one end to the kettle, the dischar e-outlet for the tailings being upon one si e of said wall.

8. In an apparatus of the character described the combination of a kettle having a plurality of shelves secured to the inner wall thereof, revolving scrapers cooperating with said shelves, a bottom for said kettle and means for revolving the same, and a station ary wall cooperating with said revolving bottom to effect a continuous discharge of the tailings.

In witness whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED SCHWARZ.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL M. MARCUS, OLIN A. FOSTER. 

